Explosion jolts restaurant in Mexican border town

Blast jolts popular Mexican border town

NUEVO PROGRESO, Mexico -- Firefighters and rescue workers used cranes and concrete saws late Saturday to search for more victims of a powerful explosion that killed at least seven people and flattened a small shopping mall, restaurant and dental clinic in this popular tourist destination.

The explosion, which occurred as shops were opening shortly after 8 a.m., also injured at least 70 and crushed metal security doors and shattered plate glass windows for a hundred yards.

"I got here five minutes after the explosion," said Juan Jose Gonzalez, owner of a general store across the street. "I couldn't see anything because of the dust and the debris, but I could hear people screaming and crying and asking for help."

By late Saturday afternoon, Mexican authorities had released the names of six local residents -- four women and two men -- whose bodies were spotted in the rubble early in the day. Many of the injured were rushed to hospitals in the nearby towns of Rio Bravo and Reynosa, said Red Cross officials.

Officials believe there were at least a dozen people in the shops and offices at the time of the explosion. U.S. Border Patrol search dogs have led authorities to several locations beneath the rubble where they sensed the presence of humans, said spokesman Jaime Salazar.

"Our canines alerted to two or three locations where there is a possibility of finding people. Now, they (rescue teams) are clearing the area ... so we can see if there is anyone alive."

Emergency officials said an incoming storm forced them to stop search and rescue efforts late Saturday. The storm did not deter a small crowd gathered at the scene anxiously awaiting news of family members believed trapped in the rubble.

The explosions, which eyewitnesses said occurred at 8:20 a.m., flattened the St. John's Plaza shopping mall, a large dental clinic, a pharmacy, and a two-story seafood restaurant called the Red Snapper. The explosion took place on Calle Benito Juarez, the main street of this border town, and only two blocks from the international bridge.

Later in the day, the shopping mall and the street outside would have been jammed with thousands of tourists.

Mexican authorities say the explosion appeared to have been triggered by the ignition of leaking gas in one of the shops.

"We understood it was an accumulation of gas under one of the shops, and when they opened the store and turned on a light a spark ignited the gas," said Christian Aguirre, a Red Cross official from neighboring Rio Bravo.

As in many Mexican cities, Nuevo Progreso does not have underground gas lines so merchants pipe gas to their businesses from rooftop tanks. Many residents believe a faulty gas connection at the Red Snapper restaurant was to blame.

"They install these gas lines very badly in Nuevo Progreso, without regard for safety," said Raul Garcia, a longtime merchant whose restaurant in the next block lost seven windows.

There was no official confirmation of the cause of the explosion.

"We don't have any idea what it was," said Raul Herrera Soto, an officer with the town's traffic police. "It could have been a tank of gas, we won't know until the experts from Victoria (the state capital) can get here."

The police officer said many of those taken to local hospitals were street merchants who were setting up their stands on the sidewalk outside the shopping center.

"Most of them are in very serious condition, they are vendors who were outside and they were hit by flying glass and stones," he said.

Aaron Velasquez, visiting from Corpus Christi, was two blocks away from the site seeing a dentist when the blast took place. "It just exploded and the glass flew in," he said. "It was one of the worst situations I've ever been through."

Armando Olivares had just opened one of the two small silver shops he owns inside St. John's Plaza when the deafening blast occurred. Olivares said he looked up to see the walls of his shop imploding toward him, and chunks of concrete blocks and shards of glass injured one of his saleswomen.

"I was in my business and there was a very strong explosion but I don't know from what," said Olivares, who said it appeared to be centered on the laboratory of a dental clinic next door. "I felt everything falling down, and it was all being blown towards my shop."

Olivares, who was uninjured by the explosion, said he found a hole in the debris and crawled out.

But he and others who worked nearby feared the death toll will be many more than the seven found earlier Saturday.

"In the part that is destroyed, there were 12 or 15 people working, more or less," the silver merchant said. "And that's because it was early. There would have been more if it happened later."

The rescue operation was conducted by firefighters and emergency workers from both sides of the Rio Grande, and Tamaulipas Gov. Tomas Yarrington arrived mid-afternoon.

Dozens of firefighters from departments in Edinburg, Pharr, Mission, McAllen, Weslaco, Alamo and Donna could be seen on top of the collapsed structures, directing crane operators who were lifting sections of debris.

Hidalgo County, Texas, Judge Ramon Garcia said he authorized the use of county money to help Mexican officials.

"We have the fire departments from all throughout the border. These are our neighbors. This is just really one big community," Garcia said. "It's an emergency situation, therefore we have authorized all these personnel to come here."